Of Bets, Broomsticks, and Whomping Willows
by MiniBrunette
Summary: The title says it all. Just another day in the lives of the second generation of HP- Rose, Albus, James, and Scorpius. And, of course, very old brooms. Slight AU, slight Rose/Scorpius.
1. Bets, Broomsticks, and Whomping Willows

A/N: SLIGHTLY EDITED. And the brooms were supposed to be like Ron's old ones... I dunno if I got the facts right. Basically, they're old. Very, very old. This is around Rose, Al, and Scorpius's fourth year, James is in sixth.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot. :)

**Of Bets, Broomsticks, and Whomping Willows  
**  
The grassy landscape of Hogwarts grounds lay spread out before me.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" came Albus Severus Potter's unsure voice from somewhere below me.

I flashed him a quick grin. "Sure. After all, if I can do this, that means James loses the bet."

"Alright, just, you know, don't get yourself killed. It _is_ the Whomping Willow, after all."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I glanced at my broom, an ancient (and I mean _ancient_) Cleansweep that we found in some broom closet, gulping. I wished I'd listened to Scorpius earlier... What the hell had I gotten myself into?

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

_Albus, James, Scorpius, and I forced the old door open with an ugly creak.  
_

_"Whoa," I breathed, staring at the contents. "How old do you think these are?" I reached out to brush my hand against one of the objects, but before I even got the chance, a hand shot forward and snatched one of them right out of the closet.  
_

_"Cool!" James Sirius Potter grinned from ear to ear. One might think his birthday had come early. "Let's go try these out on the grounds!"  
_

_Albus saw this as an opportunity to step in. "Guys, don't you think that might be a little, er, _unsafe_? These _are_ over thirty-five years old."  
_

_I wrenched the second Cleansweep out of the old closet, inspecting the broom.  
_

_Scorpius (who was wisely standing back) had a huge smirk on his features, already knowing what came next.  
_

_"Awww, come on, baby brother," James chided. "We can't know if we don't try."  
_

_I sighed. "James, you already have a racing broom. Give it a rest, will you? _Snails_ probably go faster than these old things."  
_

_James grinned evilly at me. "What's the matter, Weasley? Is little Wosie-Posie scared?"  
_

_I lifted my chin defiantly. "Of course not."  
_

_"Prove it."  
_

_I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at my older cousin. "Go ahead..."  
_

_Al and Scorpius shared a quick glance, obviously not liking where this was going.  
_

_Just as James was opening his mouth to say something, Al grabbed him and Scorpius grabbed me, trying to talk us out of whatever we were planning to do.  
_

_"James, I really don't think-"  
_

_"Rose, this isn't such a good idea-"  
_

_James wrestled free from his younger brother's grip and turned towards me. "Rose- you, me, Whomping Willow, after dinner tomorrow. The one who flies through the branches with minimal damage wins."  
_

_I struggled against Malfoy, glowering venemously. "You're on."_

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Now I didn't feel quite so brave as I did earlier. "Okay, Rose, you can do this," I muttered to myself, gulping again. "If you do this, James loses the bet." A grin spread over my features at the thought of how he nearly turned himself into Potter Pudding when he tried to make it through. He was immediately carted to the hospital wing, where the nurse had given him several bone-mending potions, and required him to stay for the remainder of the week. Albus barely managed to sneak him out afterwards with Uncle Harry's invisibility cloak. Now the question wasn't merely making it through the damned tree unscathed, it was making it through _alive_.

I expelled a huge breath of air that I'd been holding. "Okay," I said to myself, and then louder, called to the spectators below. "On three!"

There was a vague noise of agreement. I could already tell that Albus was probably sick with worry, Scorpius was smirking, and James looked very smug, thinking that I'd eventually back out. Oh, how wrong he was. Still, with any luck I'll probably just have a broken bone or two... or maybe three... I groaned in frustration. That's the spirit... You're gonna get yourself killed before anyone can say "detention."

Exhale. "One." Gulp. "Two." I squeezed my eyes shut. "Three."

In all honesty, I expected myself to shoot forward in no less than at least fifty miles per hour. I was barely making _twenty_. Refusing to chicken out, I resorted to keeping my eyes shut and blindly flying towards the willow.

I felt branches tearing at my skin and clothes, but I was too terrified to even move. One rather large branch connected nastily with my leg, and I felt a searing pain in my knee. And then all of a sudden- nothing but wind. I flew for a while longer before I actually had the courage to open my eyes and look around me.

I did it! My mind screamed. I got through the willow! Ha! Take that, James! I flew back towards my friends and landed, before promptly collapsing on the ground. "Ow!" I wailed.

Albus immediately rushed to help me. "What happened? Are you okay? What hurts?"

"My ears," I muttered acidly, angry at the world for making me go through the entire ordeal. Lucky for me, Albus got the hint and shut up. I grimaced and pointed at my leg.

His eyes widened. "I think it's broken."

"Gee, d'you think?"

Sadly, I had to be, erm, _carried_ to the hospital wing by none other than Scorpius Malfoy (who, mind you, was smirking- of all things,_ smirking_!) while Albus helped James with the invisibility cloak. Needless to say- very embarrassing.

How I actually got through that stupid tree I will never know. I was just glad that I didn't end up in the hospital wing any longer than James.

**Hope you guys liked it. R&R? **


	2. Fireworks, Holidays, and Angry Malfoys

**Hey guys! Erm... yeah. Haven't updated in a while... *looks down guiltily* **

**In my defense, the first chapter started out as a random oneshot, but then I wrote this... Anyhow. There will be spontaneous and random updates, but they probably won't be very frequent. Sorry. **

**Now for a little bit of holiday cheer :] - **

**This oneshot describes the Weasleys celebrating New Year's at the Burrow. My sort-of OC is Neville's and Hannah Abbott's daughter Emily. (They married, I think. Not sure about children.) Takes place in the gang's fifth year (excepting James, who's in seventh, I believe). **

* * *

"Hang on a second," I said, getting up from the table.

"Emily, what are you doing...?" Uncle Percy asked tentatively as I rummaged through several boxes stacked near the entrance to the kitchen.

Finding nothing, I approached one of the adults. "Uncle George, do you still have some of those fireworks you set off earlier this morning...?" I asked him. He smirked before rummaging through another box and handing me some, cocking an eyebrow as if to ask what I was doing. I grabbed a firework and lit it, then threw some floo powder into the fireplace and shouted "Malfoy Manor!" before tossing the firework into the green flames. Everyone was eyeing me suspiciously as I sat back down at the table, especially Albus. His face seemed to convey the message 'oh, Malfoy is going to be so mad...' I grinned at him and started my dinner.

Approximately five seconds later, a figure covered completely from head to toe in soot tumbled from the fireplace, swearing profusely.

"What in the name of Merlin's hot pink underpants were you thinki- oh." Scorpius Malfoy stopped his tirade in mid sentence, and his blush was visible even under the layer of grime that covered his face. He pointed a finger accusingly at me and growled, "you."

I blinked at him innocently. He seemed to tire of staring at me soon enough and with a muttered "sorry" to the entire Weasley-Potter clan staring at him from the table, prepared to floo back to Malfoy Manor.

"Hang on." Scorpius turned to me again. "Do you still have any more of those fireworks...?"

Uncle George grinned and gestured to a huge box near the kitchen counter. After grabbing several from the box and a quick "happy new year," Malfoy vanished from sight.

Rose glowered at me for doing 'such a horrible thing' to her boyfriend, while James and Albus exchanged glances and the latter mused, "I wonder who'll be the lucky recipient of those fireworks..."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it's Wood, Flint, or Avery," added James, a wistful look upon his face.

"Oh, come on," Rose muttered, still irked about what had just happened. "Just because they're your rivals in Quidditch doesn't mean you have to go proclaiming your hate for them."

James and I exchanged a smirk before I muttered something to Rose that only the four of us could hear: "Whoa there. Down overprotective girlfriend, down."

Rose glowered at us maliciously before stabbing her piece of meat in such a way that would make even Lord Voldemort cringe.

* * *

**Teehee. Hope you guys liked it. **

**Reviews are love. :D Leave some. **


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